Goat Cheese Appetizers Recipes

It makes me sad that lamb is so under-utilized and under-appreciated. I love lamb! Whenever I want to introduce lamb to someone who may have had a bad experience, I give it to them in appetizer form. Getting a large chunk of a meat you don't know or haven't enjoyed in the past can be intimidating. Bite size appetizers are much more inviting in that if after a bite you don't like it, you can stop right there without offending anyone.

I bought a lamb tenderloin to create appetizers with the tender meat. I would usually stack cold meat on toasted brioche, but I needed to add something studier to hold the little bites together. I used mini wafer crisps and topped them with hash-brown style sweet potatoes. I created many layers of flavors so the elements would complement each other. I made a mint goat milk yogurt sauce to pair with the lamb and finished the appetizer with two different kinds of Cypress Goat Cheese chevre to repeat the flavor.

Today our friend Jason from Cypress Grove Chevre is offering the Flashback Family Gift Pack (which I used for this recipe) as part of our 25 Days of Giveaways. The giveaway includes five amazing flavored goat cheeses. Each flavor has a groovy name: Ms.Natural (plain), Sgt.Pepper (exotic spices & pepper threads), Purple Haze (lavender), PsycheDillic (dill) and Herbs de Humboldt (Herbes de Provence). I like them all and I've told you Cypress Grove Chevre is really dear to my heart (find out why). As an added bonus, it also includes John Lennon-style tinted glasses to help your chevre lovers properly mellow out. That's 24 ounces of delicious chevre, a $75 value! Enter now.

I love grilling fruit. The natural sweetness creates a caramelized crust while slightly softening the texture of the fruit. Stone fruits in particular work very well. And since I just bought a bunch of white nectarines, I decided to have some fun with them and make sweet and savory appetizers.

I chose nectarines that were ripe but still a little firm, and threw them briefly on the grill. I wanted to make sure they didn't become watery and mushy. Fruity, sweet flavors pair incredibly well with goat cheese, so I nestled the grilled nectarine wedges on thin slices of chèvre and a slightly toasted brioche.

To finish the appetizers, I drizzled the nectarines with date syrup and added a sprinkle of finely chopped garlic chives and flat-leaf parsley. They're very easy to assemble and would make beautiful appetizers for your next summer party!